how the supreme court could change a law on dna samples. >> pregnant women shouldn't have to worry about take time off or having a job when they come back. today lawmakers in annapolis debate a proposal protecting their rights. she provided medical care all over the world. today the usns comfort leaves for a final time. it will be sad to see her go on this tuesday morning. february 26th. thanks for joining us i am megapringle. >> i am charlee crowson. linda so is out there for the final send off. lynn jettette has -- libbette -- rinnette has changes coming to the traffic. >> reporter: -- lynette has changes coming to the weather that will affect traffic. >> reporter: yes. >> this morning they are getting a break but the commute home will be a rough one. heavy rain guys. so speaking of that heavy rain, this is why we have a flood watch going into effect this afternoon through the evening. and you can see the outline of the green color here. that's the flood watch. so we are looking at baltimore

county and also carroll county fredereven howard county andan arundel county all in on this flood watch. so, as we slide further back off towards the west that's when we pick up the wintery side of this. and that will be in western maryland where they are dealing with a winter weather advisory. so, travel will be a problem across the area. we look at maryland's most powerful radar as of now and we are dry here. close to home but further back off towards the south this is where we are going to be dealing with the rain coming in this will begin to work et cetera way in as we go into the afternoon early afternoon hours so we are talking around noon, on wore butoverspreading the area going into 3 this afternoon. this could start out as sleet mixing with rain and then switching all over. temperatures this morning are cold. we are talking about 26 degrees in perry hall and this is what to expect as you plan the day. that high temperature around 45 degrees with rain in the forecast. let's check the abc2 timesaver traffic with lauren cook good morning. >> reporter: good morning.

21 days until spring. countth count down is on. traveling in howard county interstate 70. nice and clear no delays from columbia pike all the way over to 695. and here's a live look at the beltway the northwest corner here in old court road. the inner loop will be clear up to the 83. and the outer loop is going to take 7 minutes to travel from 795 down to 70. we are dealing with a little bit of fog out there this morning. so you might need to use the low beams to improve visibility but if you are heading downtown the jfx will be free of delays just 11 minutes to travel southbound from the beltway all the way down to east fayette street. we have construction downtown on light street blocking the left lane between pratt and conway so expect more congestion in the area than usual. everything up to speed through the fort mchenry tunnel and 8 minutes to travel northbound from the beltway all the way to the toll plaza. that's your abc2 timesaver traffic. 6:02. a critical tool solving difficult crimes but when is it

legal for law enforcement to take a suspect's dna that's a question taken up today by the supreme court after the 2009 conviction of a maryland man for rape and murder was overturned on constitutional grounds. abc2 news sherrie johnson is here with details and what did the appeals court say a year ago that got us here today. >> reporter: well, basically the maryland dna collection act is a law allowing officials to take the dna from those who have been arrested but not convicted of a serious crime. so now the question is, is it constitutional on whether the state says once arrest you lose the privacy right. today the u.s. supreme court will figure that out as the case alonso king takes center stage. king was arrested in 2009 on assault charges. police took his dna the sample matched dna collected from the victim and police then linked him to a 2003 rape. king's lawyers moved to suppress the evidence of the dna match saying the initial draw violated the constitutional right. but the lower court found king guilty of first degree rape and sentenced him to life in

prison. last april, the maryland court of appeals ruled against a key provision of the law. opponents say the law runs over the 4th amendment ban on unreasonable search and seizure. >> at the time of arrest right now a. defendant is -- a defendant is handcuffed the car can beer ised and the house can be searched and they can take a blood sample with a needle and strip search you. and everybody gets finger prined and clearly they can put a q-tip on side of the cheek for one second. >> reporter: all states require dna from individuals convict of a felony the federal government and 28 states requires dna collection and analysis from some arrestees. today will be busy for state lawmakers in annapolis. gun control and repealing the death penalty will be up for debate in maryland and it's the senate as soon as today. both bills were voted out of

the judicial proceedings committee last thursday and also today there's a hearing on a bill to protect pregnant workers in our state. the measure explains employers' obligation to treat expectant mothers as any other temporarily physically limited worker. a race against the clock in dc and three days 85 billion dollars in spending cuts are due to kick in unless congress reaches a deal. this is no. [audio not understandable] federal official say there will be a reduction in fighting force and reduced access to low income families. educational services and when it comes to air travel a warning flying public will see delays. >> the impact cannot be underestimated because at the time many of our passengers are contemplating the next business trip or family vacation a pilot may be facing a future where they are going to have no choice but to leave the passengers stranded at the gate.

congressional republicans insist on cuts only. and president obama and the democrats favor a combination of cuts and tax increases. baltimore county congressman todd huff is is addressing his recent dui charge for the first time. the councilman released a statement saying he made a poor decision and will accept the consequences. he was arrested saturday. police say he was driving a county owned car at the time of the dui and huff says he volume unterrible is giving up the vehicle. 6 minutes after 6 right now. depending on the weather, state police will get two new helicopters today. augusta westland aw139 will arrive at martin state airport in middle river. the two are the first of 10replacing the current fleet. some choppers are older than 20 years and they will be used for search and rescue and law enforcement and homeland security and, of course, medivac. we are following breaking news this morning at least 18 people are dead after a hot air balloon caught fire and crashed into a field. this happened in luxor egypt

after 2 in the morning our time. according to an egyptian security official the balloon carrying tourist caught fire which triggered the explosion and plunged at least a thousand feet to the ground and as always you can stay up-to-date on breaking news events at abc2 on twitter using the hash tag gmm for the latest updates. don't forget for breaking news upload the free app but teching. they treated earthquake victims in haiti and docked in new york after september 11th to help first responders at ground zero. during the disasters and during war the usns comfort is there to heal and today the floating hospital is going to say bye to baltimore for good. linda so is there live this morning. linda. >> reporter: preparations are underway for the five month trip to the caribbean south and central america but the big story this morning is when this ship leaves baltimore where it has called home for the past 25

years, it will not be coming back when it set sails at 7 and leaves the port the dock here it will be heading to the new home in norfolk virginia and to tell us more is jessica alexander with the navy thanks for being here. so when it leaves this morning it's not coming back. >> reporter: that's correct. and good morning linda and baltimore i want to say thanks -- >> good morning -- >> that's correct i want to say good morning linda and baltimore i want to say thanks so much for being good to us. it's leaving for three days of sea trials before arriving in norfolk virginia. and that will be the new labor. it will be there for the next month getting ready to deploy on a humanitarian mission in central and south america. >> reporter: so we are used to seeing the ship from the outside but give us some perspective on what it looks like on the inside. >> it's an amazing ship. it's -- an amazing ship. it's a hospital on water it's

mobile and flexible with a thousand beds, 12 operating rooms an oxygen production lab and has a blood bank. and it has the cape act of water production and it's kind of runs the spectrum of hospital capabilities. but it's on water at sea and it's ready to serve our forward deployed troops or any of the partner nations we work with. >> wonderful. >> reporter: we are sad to see it cleave but when it does it will no longer be coming back to baltimore. norfolk virginia will be the home base and next month in april it gets ready for a five month humanitarian relief mission hitting 8 countries providing dental and health services for those in need. live in baltimore linda so, abc2 news. the huge show of support for baltimore city schools. >> a report on efforts to draw attention to deplorable

conditions in the oldest school buildings. >> also the extra fat around your stomach may be able to save a life. the organ doctors are using the fatty tissues to create. >> a blizzard dumped more than a foot of snow in the southern plains. we will look at the harsh conditions that many have to deal with this morning. >> we won't see the snow but we will get rain pushing in for today. i will tell you how long the rain will last coming up. >> reporter: well, everything is up to speed on 695. i will let you know what traffic looks like on 95 and 83 all coming up on good morning maryland. >> 10 minutes after 6 this is new york city's times square let's head up there for today's tech bites. >> reporter: in today's tech bites, 6 strikes and you are out. starting this week, internet users illegally sharing music movingies or tv will get 6 warnings if they continue, the internet service could be slowed to a crawl. lots of new from ducts --

products are introduceed at mobile world congress in spain from aces that blow the line between tablets and smart phones infinity is is a phone that docks into the tablet and phone is half phone and half tablet. samsung will come with a pay wave that works without any setup allowing useers to make purchases just by tapping their phones at terminals. and how about a really mobile hot spot starting next year general motors will equip the cars sufficient as the malibu with 4g wi-fi with realtime traffic info and allows passengers is to -- passengers to connect mobile devices to the net. have a great day, those are your tech bites i am rob nelson.

you are looking live it's not pretty. kansas city missouri if you are complaining about the weather think about the folks here. 33 degrees right now. 100% precipitation. and they have been dealing with a lot of snowfall there widespread. they are saying from 6 to 10 inches. >> state of emergency was declared there as relative to the storm. >> it's nasty out there a deadly storm from texas and oklahoma throughout the midwest and into the northeast. >> 19 states are under a watch or warning as a result of this storm. and in kansas school districts canceled school because the storm could bring up to two feet of snow. aid traffic nightmare on the road and highways. so many drivers are stranded and the national guard had to be called in. >> we have what nice winter so far. and now boy in the last two weeks here it's like gees.

>> it's crazy. i don't like the winter. >> the monster storm brought hurricane-force winds and in north texas the winds were so ferocious in texas it peeled the bricks from the side of the building. that's what they are dealing with in other parts of the country. it's nasty. >> it is nasty. and so i know a lot of people want the winter side of the storm but we won't get that. we will deal with the rain for today and it's not going to be light rain. heavy to moderate rain. we are talking about flooding across the area. you can see that part that's going to be moving in our direction. we are dry right now but the clouds are across the area. but change is on the way. so be prepared for that. also, as we look back towards the middle of the nation, you can see the counterclockwise spin over missouri right now. that's where the upper-level low is. that's where the powerful storm is and that's the storm that's driving all the rain that will begin to move in as we go later into the afternoon. now, let's switch over and show you what's going on in terms of temperatures. because we are cold out there. look at hereford at 30 degrees. sparrows point at 33 and 32 in

annapolis. and as we check out hunting town at 29 we are at 30 degrees in easton and centerville at 31 and northeast coming in at 33 degrees. make sure to bundle up as you head out and about. now let's switch back over and show you what's going on close to home. the clouds moving in across the area this will begin to change as we go through the afternoon. and abc2's most accurate future trend will pick on when the rain will push in. i will put it in motion. 8 this morning it looks dry but as we work our way into one, we will start to see the beginning of the rain and we could see sleet mixing in before this starts and then once the rain gets in here, we will be dealing with some flooding potential. look at that orange look at that red color. that's heavy rain coming down. rainfall rates about an inch an hour so we will see how that works out. we could see the future trend as we go through tomorrow. still the chance for some clouds and some showers early in the morning the but this is what i want you to end on today. we have the potential for two

inches of rain. let's check the abc2 timesaver traffic with lauren cook good morning. >> reporter: good morning. all of that rain will lead to a hectic commute later this afternoon into the evening. but right now, all is clear on the jfx. no concerns from cold spring lane all the way to downtown baltimore. we have some construction on light street blocking the left lane between pratt and conway. so you will want to expect more congestion in that area than usual. here's a live look in white marsh 95 at route 43. traffic is moving along taking you a normal 14 minutes to travel from the beltway all the way into the city. and as we look at the other abc2 timesaver traffic drive times the beltway in great shape 11 minutes on the outer loop from 95 up to 83. and the west side conditions nice and normal just 11 minutes to travel outer loop from 795 down to 95. that's a look at your morning commute now over to you. health news this morning. heart disease is a number one killer in the united states. and doctors right now are working on a medical

breakthrough that could save millions of lives. they are getting closer to developing the world's first heart made from a person's extra fat. >> 50ccs --50ccs of fat is two golf ball size pieces of fat and there's enough cells in that 50-ccs of fat to rebuild the major blood vessels on the heart a from the time the fat tissue is harvested they hope to build a completely new heart in 7 days. piece by piece. doctors hope that the artificial heart that will be ready for patients in about ten years clinical trials are underway. mediterranean diet may offer health benefits to researchers in spain found seafood and olive oil in grain rich foods did more to reduce the risk of hart attacks than just low fat foods. if you have a scratchy throat, the pollen season started earlier than usual and scientists saw levels peak

instead of the usual time of around march. the worst time for allergy sufferers are usually between dawn and dusk. before long athletes will take to the fields playing in sports and you want to make sure they've healthy and successful season. there's ed reed doctors express the foundation are teaming up toe pride -- providing physicals to 60 physical at booker t. washington school. the goal is to identify life- threatening ailments for the athletes. it's the latest viral craze you probably seen by now. we are talking about the harlem shake. >> we are not doing it. >> no. >> we are doing it. >> easy big guy. hold on. >> college, businesses and babies are getting involved. their version landed some of them in the principal's office. they got a duck involved. a duck. >> a duck. to be continued. this man loves to whistel but musical talents got him into trouble. what judge ordered him to do if

he keeps it up. >> and a live look downtown baltimore. abc2 bork-- work for you all day weather and traffic and news by following us on twitter at hash tag. >> hash tag gmm. don't forget us hit us up on twitter and we would love to communicate with you more. >> that's what the kid say hit me up. this is dylan right here, this is dylan, and this is his big brother hayden. dylan's only five, but he's already been through two surgeries for brain tumors.

and he just went through his second round of chemo. and this is their mother, dawn, who runs this loving and happy home. she too struggled with tumors. but that doesn't slow her down. her love of family comes first. their dad, phil, works two jobs, repairing copiers, and on weekends delivering newspapers. but the bills keep piling up, and the heating bill gets pushed off. when you learn about their difficulties, it just breaks your heart. when we asked the biggest oil companies to help families in need, only citgo, the people of venezuela, and president hugo chavez responded. thanks to them, citizens energy is able to deliver millions of gallons of fuel to families just like the berios. i'm joe kennedy. if you need help staying warm, call me at 1-877-joe-4-oil. because no one should be left out in the cold!

thanks for joining us this morning. you are looking live at kansas city missouri. it may look pretty but it's nasty there. driving has been a real hassle for people and thousands are reported to be without power this morning. again, travel is treacherous there in the storm intensifying not only in kansas city but across the country. more on that just ahead. this may be a first. a man in portland maine has been ordered to walk while he whistels. robert smith has been cited for disorderly conduct for several times for loud whistling. smith says he is trying to make people happy. >> that's my ultimate goal to show the world you can be happy doing the simplest thing every day like whistling. >> the court order requires smith to keep moving while he is whistling. businesses complained his whiffleeling was so loud it was -- whistling was so loud it was

driving customers away. grouchy. >> well, it's now time for caption this where viewers send in pictures and we post them to the facebook page and allow you to caption them. today's picture was submitted by stev and jen. look at their son lucas sporting the glasses. how cute is this. it's generated a ton of comments on facebook. dave wrote in saying nap time for mr. magoo. kim the old man character from disney's up found the fountain of youth. and gina jordan her caption was do the glasses make my head look big and dreaming of taking over drew careey's job on the price is right. he looks like charley. >> i have to agree with you megan. >> charley you need to rock a bow tie. >> oh. >> keep the captions coming if you think lucas looks like charley get on the facebook page and let us know and keep captions coming. we need pictures to use later this week. e-mail yours to pix@wmar.com

and thanks to steven and jen and he is precious. >> little orville reddenbocker the latest dance justabsurbed. harlem shake more than 20 student from a high school in michigan the mitten megan have been suspend after recording their version of the internet sensation. sans clothes called white boys making noise official say the duck went too far. >> the duck went too far. >> watch this. apparently there's some code of conduct policy or something. motorcycle helmet is okay but i don't know about all that. >> i assume that's okay but then you know all of a sudden there's no clothes on and a duck? >> there we go. >> i don't know about that. >> it's the duck. >> we promise we won't show that video again. for many skiing and snow board something a skill that takes years to perfect. >> a girl has snow boarding

under her belt and she is not 2 years old. she has -- she is a natural. could you see the girls doing this. >> not my girls. >> okay. ♪ ♪ no two people have the same financial goals. pnc works with you to understand yours and help plan for your retirement. visit a branch or call now for your personal retirement review. we need to look for a new van. yeah. i just don't know where to start.

glad you found us. start by test-driving nearly every make and model, all in one place. carmax. start here.

you're watching the station that works for you. now, good morning maryland. remind any young driver you know to be safe. the death rate among teens is creeping up to dangerous levels. >> we have heard it so many times baltimore city school buildings are crumbling and thousands of people are making their concerns heard asking law makers to do something about the state's oldest infrastructure. >> usns comfort is heading out to sea but she is not coming back to charm city. we are live in canton for a final farewell on this tuesday, february 26th. good morning maryland i am charley crowson. >> i am megan pringle. we will start things off right now with meteorologist lynette charles because the weather is going to be a big story. what time do people need to look out and be careful. >> around noon the edge of the system will begin leading edge of the system will start to work its way